Nonprofit Fundraising survey for 2011 reveals hopes and concerns

This may be one of the most comprehensive nonprofit fundraising surveys of the year and comes highly recommended especially when trying to gauge the pulse of the industry as we head quickly into the beginning of 2011. I’m referring to the annual “Nonprofit Research Collaborator” fundraising survey which was just released in conjunction with AFP, GuideStar, Blackbaud and others. The survey was one of the largest of its type specifically aimed within the industry and looking to compare the first nine months of 2010 with the same period of time last year, in fact more than 2,500 responses were received.

The entire report merits your time as it reveals much about the level of confidence heading into the new year. The news is a mixture of promising and concerning concepts with some nonprofits at a point where another year of decline could be disastrous in terms of their long-term viability. I will do my best to highlight some of the results that I found most intriguing but would encourage you to have a read through also. 2010 so far seems to have been a year of breaking even with essentially the same number of charities showing a decrease as an increase compared with 2009. The hard slide of 2009 versus 2008 has certainly now plateaued but the levels recorded in 2006/7 are still not in sight.

The report breaks down performance by sector with international, education and human services displaying the most positive change whilst the arts, environmental and religious nonprofits were more likely to to show a decrease. Another interesting piece of data you don’t typically see compiled over such a broad spectrum is ‘demand for services’ from the actual non profits. Amongst those polled the percent that showed an increased demand for services (68%) was the largest seen in four years. Only 4% showed a decreased in the demand for services with 28% remaining ‘about the same’. By nonprofit sector the largest percentages showing an increased demand were shown in Human Services at 78% and Health at 70%. As is common knowledge December is by far the most important month for donations with between 30-35% of annual contributions received this month. When asked for forecast expectations for the 4th quarter of 2010 36% expected to see an increase, 43% to remain about the same with 21% anticipating a decline. While not exuberant numbers this again suggests that improvement from 2009 are widely expected.

At the narrowest edge of the nonprofit sector are those that see an increased demand for services with budgets simultaneously falling. 2011 expectations were surveyed and some 20% of those polled expect to see budgets having to drop with 7% fearing closure as a result. Of those that can operate on a reduced budget the planned navigation of such a scenario would be handled via a reduction of services or operating hours (66%) cut or freeze of staff compensation (59%) freeze hiring or enact layoffs (49%).

The entire report is available for free download via this link and offers layers of charts, metrics and interpretations that are well worth the investment of your time.